The Online Guide to Traditional
Games

A History of Pool in the USA

Following centuries of Billiards dominated
by England and France, during the 19th century a third country became obsessed
with the sport of cues and balls. Billiard tables had been appearing in all
the colonies from the 1600s but Americans were particularly keen. As with other
aspects of American life, Billiards culture became a mish-mash of the cultures
of the immigrant populations. Americans played early Port
and King Billiards, held English Billiards competitions, indulged in Pin
Billiards from Italy and, in contrast to Britain and its empire, imported
Carambole tables without pockets from France.

Early American Billiards development

The oldest Billiards games played in the USA were One-Pocket and Four-Ball
Billiards. One-Pocket, is the earliest game, a description of the game
was recorded in 1775 - complete rules for a British form appeared in 1869 showing
that the return trip across the Atlantic for the various games of Pool probably
also started with One Pocket.

Until the 1870's, though, most Americans would have played American Four-Ball
Billiards, which was played on an English Billiards sized table (12' x 6') with
only 4 pockets and four balls - two white and two red. It was played like English
Billiards by aiming to pocket balls, go in-off (scratch) or by making canons
which were called 'caroms'.

Americans had taken to playing mainly two new forms by the late 1870's - Straight
Rail and Fifteen-Ball Pool. Straight Rail was the American name for the
French and European game, Carombole, played on the
French Carombole tables without pockets and is the forerunner of all American
'Carom Billiards' games. Conversely, American 'Fifteen-Ball Pool' or 'Sixty-one
Pool' is the predecessor of all modern 'Pool' games, being played on a table
with pockets and based upon the the game of Pyramid
from England, an ancestor of Snooker.

The term 'Carom' should, of course, not be confused with the much more ancient
and equally popular Indian table game, Carrom or Karum.
Beware also of the the ambiguity of the American usage of the term 'Billiards'
- see the note at the end of the early Billiards
history page for an explanation.

Carom Billiard games, particularly Balkline, dominated the American public
eye until 1919, when Ralph Greenleaf's pool playing captured the nation's attention.
Through the 1930's, both Pool and Carom Billiards, particularly three-cushion
billiards, shared the spotlight. For more information on the development of
Carom Billiards, see the Carombole page.

Development of Pool in the USA

American Fifteen-Ball Pool or "Sixty-one Pool" is the predecessor
of all modern 'Pocket Billiards' games. It was played with 15 object balls
as in the English game Pyramid, but crucially,
the balls are numbered 1 through 15. For sinking a ball, the player received
a number of points equal to the value of the ball. The sum of the ball values
in a rack is 120, so the first player who received more than half the total,
or 61 , was the winner. The word "pool" means a collective bet and
became a term for the game when it began to be played in 19th century "pool
rooms" which were then places for betting on horse.races.

Continuous Pool replaced Fifteen-Ball Pool as the championship game when, in
1888, it was thought more fair to count the number of balls pocketed by a player
and not their numerical value . Thus, the player who sank the last ball of a
rack would break the next rack and his point total would be kept "continuously"
from one rack to the next.

Eight-Ball Pool was invented shortly after
1900 and is one of the most widely played of all Billiards games today.

Straight Pool followed in 1910. Also known as 14.1 Continuous. The object is
to pot 14 of the 15 balls one after the other and in any order leaving just
one ball whereupon all the others are racked up and the break continues. One
point is scored for each ball potted.

Nine-Ball Pool seems to have developed around 1920. This game is now more popular
in Europe particularly in Sweden and Germany. Balls one to nine are racked up
in a diamond with the nine ball in the middle and the one ball nearest the baulk
line. Each shot must always hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first
and then pocket a ball or make two balls reach a cushion. If this isn't achieved,
it is a foul and the balls are re-racked for the opponent to play.

The World Pool-Billiards Association, which controls the various Pool (American
Pocket Billiards) games, is one of the primary members of the The World Confederation
of Billiard Sports along with The World Snooker Federation and Union
Mondiale de Billard. There is some information about it on the the
BCA site.